Quick & Dirty 5-Ingredient Vegan Cheeze Sauce & Recipe Challenge

August 18, 2011Angela (Oh She Glows)

by Angela (Oh She Glows) on August 18, 2011

One of the things that has surprised me the most with vegan cuisine is how I’m able to create similar flavours and textures that I used to enjoy while eating animal products. The goal, for me, is not to aim for the vegan dish to taste exactly the same, but to try to bring out something about the non-vegan dish that I really enjoyed, like a rich sauce or a thick chocolaty pudding. This doesn’t apply to all foods however, I have no desire to create a dish that has the texture of meat because I just don’t crave that texture or taste anymore. It really just depends on the food!

One of the things I’ve always loved about Mac ‘n Cheese is that it’s comforting and creamy. When I make a vegan version of Mac ‘n Cheese, I’m not trying to create a carbon copy, but a dish that gives me that same type of comforting feeling when I eat it.

Over the past couple years, I’ve found that I can create dishes that satisfy my cravings without having to sacrifice. I crave the new dishes that I make, instead of the dishes I used to eat. Now that I’m used to this lifestyle I rarely feel like I’m missing out. The only time I feel left out is when I am eating at a non-vegan friendly restaurant, otherwise I have so many choices the hardest part is trying to decide what I will eat!

One thing I don’t always enjoy about vegan cooking and baking is the often long ingredient list that is required to make some recipes. The recipes tend to involve more creativity, more spices & seasonings, and other ingredients to achieve that outcome that I’m looking for. It’s not necessarily a bad thing per say, but sometimes I just want a quick and dirty recipe that I know I can whip up within a minute’s notice.

This 5-ingredient cheeze sauce is one of those quick and dirty recipes that I know I will keep coming back to again and again! It’s hands down the easiest cheeze sauce I’ve made and it doesn’t require a food processor or other special kitchen tool. Just a stove top and a whisk…gotta love that!

Low-Fat Vegan Cheeze Sauce (updated version)

This is the Lexus of all the cheeze sauces I’ve made to date. It’s extremely smooth, buttery, and comforting!

4. Add Dijon, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste and whisk frequently until the sauce thickens up, for about 5 minutes. If it’s still too thin you can add more flour to achieve the thickness you desire. To reheat: reheat in the microwave or on the stove-top (add a splash of milk if it’s too thick) and whisk well. Store in an air-tight container for up to 5-7 days.

Just 5 ingredients and just as delicious as the other sauces I’ve made!

I first made this sauce a couple weeks ago and we’ve been enjoying it a lot! I’ve poured it into pasta, on vegetables, sandwiches, etc. It’s so silky and delicious, you really have to try this. You could also get creative and add some herbs or spices to it to change it up quite easily.

Yesterday, I also made a fantastic lunch with it…

more on that recipe tomorrow!

The Quick & Dirty 7-Ingredient or Less Challenge

Speaking of short ingredient lists, I thought it would be fun to challenge myself to create more vegan recipes with as few ingredients as possible. Quick & Dirty recipes if you will!

My goal is to create more recipes with 7 ingredients or less that don’t require a lot of time or even special kitchen tools. It’s going to be tough, but I’m really excited for the challenge!

i cannot stand a long ingredient list and detailed directions. the words start swimming on the page. i figure if i can’t make the recipe while i am enjoying an evening with my husband with a glass of wine in hand-forget it!
love the cheeze sauce!

This is definitely easy enough to make on any night! And the biggest recipe hurdle I face is seeing a long list of ingredients that I don’t have in the pantry. Who wants to spend that extra money on things they may never use again??

Quick and dirty recipes are always my favorites – who has time to slave away for hours on a daily basis? Cheese sauces have been one of my favorite vegan things to make – that comforting factor is so irreplaceable!

I love the simplicity of this! I don’t really have many cooking hurdles and actually really enjoy it, but I’d say the biggest one for me is probably just finding time to prep the recipes I want to try. For example, a lot of the raw recipes I’m lusting over involve soaking things for hours or overnight, so you really have to plan ahead. Your pizza looks SO good!

Wow, that looks delicious and SO easy to make! Simple recipes are so refreshing, especially when the few ingredients are common ones – I have all of these items on hand. What’s more, most of the “cheeze” recipes I see call for blended cashews, which are delicious but expensive just to blend into a simple sauce. Definitely trying this recipe soon – easy and affordable! Thanks!

I don’t have a food processor and so many recipes require one. Also because I’m in Ireland I can’t always get my hands on certain ingredients – chia seeds, nutritional yeast and sunflower seed butter come to mind!

Honetsly as soon as I see a really long ingredients list I know I won’t be making the recipe. I am a college student and the only vegan in the house, so I am always looking for minimalistic and easy vegan recipes. I don’t have the money or the space to keep every different kind of flour, sugar, or other ingredient on hand. I am really looking forward to that pizza recipe!

I’d like to see more easy ways to change a regular recipe into GF without a big hassle of different flours or other things (although that’s really hard, but definitely do-able). I also HATE to bust out (and then clean) the food processor. If there’s a really delicious sounding recipe that I have all the ingredients for, but requires a food processor (and/or blender), 9 times out of 10 I’ll pass it up because I don’t feel like cleaning the food processor. I just want EASY not hard or “over-done”. Everything is so complicated now-a-days… we need to shorten the steps and then more people will want to get in the kitchen and cook!

My biggest problems are too many ingredients and too expensive ingredients! I live in a studio alone and I’m building up my kitchen! If there are too many things I’d have to buy I move on to another recipe!

My challenge is being intimidated in the kitchen. I don’t have too much confidence in my cooking skills, so I tend to avoid trying new things all together and I get stuck eating the same things over and over. I like ‘quick and dirty’ recipes, especially is they have me trying out new ingredients and cooking methods because they aren’t as intimidating yet they have me trying out new things.

This looks awesome! I can’t wait to try it (with arrowroot or some other GF substitute; I’ll let you know how it goes). It’s true that simple wins the day in my kitchen — both in recipes I create and those I follow. But needing to eat GF and vegetarian can sometimes be a challenge to that goal, so I definitely resonate with what you’re saying. I’m excited to see what you come up with! :)

I recently embarked on a plant-based diet. A lot of recipes I have tried are labor intensive with lots of ingredients and tons of dirty dishes, blender, pots, etc. I am not a spring chicken and have a hard time standing for long periods of time in the kitchen. So fewer ingredients and less standing/cleanup time is a bonus. Looking forward to trying the Cheeze Sauce recipe. Need to get some more yeast flakes. Thanks for doing the experimenting and sharing your successes!

My problem is long ingredient lists and/or expensive ingredients. I’m a grad student, shortly to be a non-grad student/unemployed, so quick, easy, delicious recipes are something I always look for. No matter how busy/tired I am I try to take the time to cook something good. I splurged on cashews this week for your cheeze sauce that I will try shortly. Love nuts but they are pricey. I will have to try the above cheese sauce too soon! I’ve been making pizza this week w/ a chickpea version of your oil free pesto and it’s delish! Trying it with white beans today and putting it on my pizza, can’t wait!

I am a long-time reader and I rarely comment, but I am really excited about your 7 ingredient or less challenge, as lately I am just in the mood for quick and easy recipes. I normally love to cook, but at the moment, I just want something tasty to eat without all of the effort.

Thanks for reading my mind on this one, and for all of your amazing posts and recipes (which I use at least weekly if not more)!

Usually it’s a list of ingredients that call for things that come from two different seasons, or ingredients that I can’t find out here in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin.

Hmm, well curries have tons of ingredients, but those are mostly spices and I would think “condensing” them might ruin flavor… plus using a bunch of pre-packaged sauces and stuff kind of defeats the purpose. :P

Maybe something like simple salads with simpler dressings that still have a ton of flavor? Or rich and healthy casseroles that don’t call for a ton of cheese?

OMG I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS CHALLENGE!!! I struggle with having enough random ingredients in my cupboards/fridge.. Since im single and generally cook for one, my food budget is smaller so I tend to have less variety. I would love to see some 7 ingredient baked goods as well as some easy high protein dinners!! Thank you so much for putting this together.. Best idea ever

My fiance doesn’t have a sweet tooth like I do. I would like to see a quick chocolate recipe that doesn’t require a blender. It would even be cool if it was a single serving! Less temptation to eat more that way. ;)

My biggest hurdle is definitely the volume of ingredients in a lot of veggie/vegan dishes. I love cooking with the freshest ingredients possible, so I try to use whatever I buy to its fullest before it goes bad. But some of the ingredients are totally new to me/never heard of, so I only know of one recipe in which to use that ingredient. I generally just skip the ones that are too complicated and stick with ones with fewer ingredients, usually in the realm of what I already cook so I know I’ll always have things on hand to whip it up again (or at least a variation on it). Tips for appropriate substitutions (for similar texture, taste, diet restrictions, etc.) like you’ve done here are always appreciated to expand on what I may already have in my fridge/pantry, especially for a newer cook.

Hard-to-find ingredients are a turn-off for me, ESPECIALLY when combined with long ingredient lists, or lists with many hard-to-find ingredients on them! But on a related note, thank you for mentioning that Bob’s Red Mill makes nutritional yeast! I’ve been scouring the grocery stores for nutritional yeast lately and haven’t found any. But I see that brand all the time, and never even thought to check for the yeast next to their other products (I use their whole wheat flour). So thanks! Helpful as always. :)

I would have to say recipes that involve hard to find ingredients and take lots of time/ingredients are a turn off for me. I don’t have as much time to cook anymore so I want something quick. It’s also helpful if it can be made in stages. ie. I love that you can make the sauce you mentioned above and then use it for a bunch of different recipes throughout the week.

My challenge would be kitchen tools I don’t have- like special pans or thermometers. I also get sort of turned off by unsual kitchen ingredients like unusual flours. If I see something that calls for spelt or rice flour for example, I don’t try it b/c I’m worried about how the texture would turn out if I used ww flour or oat flour (b/c oats + food processor= oat flour, right?) and I don’t want to buy something I don’t have.

For me, I like short ingredient lists — I like to throw things together and not worry about 1/2 tsp of this, 1/4 tsp of that, etc. So this is definitely a recipe I want to try! I love that I don’t have to chop cashews :)

Can’t wait to try this sauce and i love that there is no cashews in it which i find very heavy and not to mention expensive!!!
I would definitely like to see fewer (and less crazy expensive) ingredients and i just love that you are canadian and i can actually find everything you use :)

My biggest hurdle in the kitchen is not having enough time. I love making complex meals on the weekends, but I’m really busy during the week and don’t usually have time for that kind of effort. I’m also cooking on a budget, so recipes with easy-to-find/small numbers of ingredients is a plus!

You read my mind! I was looking for a quick cheeze recipe exactly like this last week. Most had some obscure ingredient I didn’t have on hand. This one is perfect. My biggest challenge is long ingredient lists. If it’s got more than 10 ingredients I usually gloss right over it.

It’s definitely nice to have the quick + dirty recipes around, especially for busy days/nights! Great challenge…can’t think of anything specific right now to challenge you with though. :) My thinking cap is on.

I love trying new vegan recipes, but I have to agree that the long ingredient list often deters me; especially during the week after I’ve worked all day! I love finding recipes that are quick & easy AND healthy for weeknights – I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

What a fun challange for yourself. I have a very stocked pantry, so when I cook it’s nbd to have 10+ ingredient lists because most likely I have most of those things on hand already. …but I realize not everyone has this luxury and have been trying to focus on shorter ingredient lists myself. I think that makes cooking less intimidating and frankly easier and less time consuming. Plus, less expensive. Five ingedients or less is hard ! I feel like seven is a more managable number. Also, I always figure most people have salt, pepper, water and some kind of oil and tend to not count those.

I make your vegan mac and cheese whenever I get the chance. Its actually a big request in my house and I am the only gluten free dairy free chick! :) Thanks for incoportaing a few of my favorite things – sweet potatoes, pasta and “cheeze”!!!

I have to admit the thing that most puts me off going completely vegan is the list of ingredients on some recipes. It’s reall off-putting. This sounds lovely and nice ‘n’ easy to make. That pizza looks divine!

Time is a big issue for me. I work 8 hours a day, exercise for 1 hr, drive around on errands, give much needed attention to my kids and Hubby and squeeze in some painting or writing time. By the time dinner time comes around I am too pooped to get in the kitchen to cook. Fast and easy with simple ingredient list is what I have been surviving on most weekdays.

I am fascinated by nutritional yeast but am afraid to try it again. I didn’t have a good experience the first time around with it so I tend to shy away from recipes that call for it. Even though you make look so good :)

What a great challenge idea! good luck! My biggest hurdle in the kitchen would be ingredients that are hard to find or too expensive to get. Sometimes things can get a bit pricey for a poor university student like myself haha :)

Hard to find ingredients :( I live in a town of about 6,000 and the nearest health food store with nooch, buckwheat, and all the other great finds from bulk bins is about 45 minutes away. Not a fun drive when I have 3 kids and one of them despises long car rides. And I have a Trader Joes about 75 minutes away, but again, not such a fan of long drives. I just need to make more time for myself, leave the kids with hubby, and make the drive for yummy stuff!
OMG, that butternut squash mac n cheez looks AWESOME.

My problem in the kitchen is that I have a tiny 2-cup size food processor, so when recipes call for a food processor, I usually have to chop things in batches. Not the worst thing ever, but it’d be nice to finally splurge on larger size.

Usually long ingredient lists don’t intimidate me – if I look through them and see that I have a lot of the stuff already. Sometimes lots of spices are needed to achieve a complex flavour in the dish… I seem to find that a lot in Indian cooking, at least. What DOES put me off is the use of special kitchen tools that I don’t want to clean afterwards! The problem isn’t usually that I don’t have them… but that I don’t want to clean them! (I don’t even like cleaning my tiny little food processor… even though you can work so much magic with it.)

I’m waiting for [local] butternut squash to appear so I can finally make that Butternut Squash Mac ‘n’ Cheeze! I like your notes about not necessarily duplicate animal products; that is definitely the best way to approach a vegan or special diet, I find. Rather than focusing always on what you’re “living without”, it’s much better to focus on what you’re “living with”. i.e. Don’t think “Oh I can’t have milk, I HAVE to have soy/almond/hemp/oat milk instead…” just think “I can have alternative delicious milks.” No need for the “instead”…

I think I love you. I don’t have a food processor and usually skip making the vegan cheese sauces because they require either that or a TON of ingredients. Having a simple recipe with ingredients I already have on hand makes me SO HAPPY- I can’t wait to try this!!

That cheese sauce sounds like one I would use a lot! I love that it keeps for up to 5 days! And easy recipes are wonderful. I can cook difficult and complicated things but when times get busy (as they are about to in my life) simple is best!

Love it! Your blog has been so helpful in so many ways! This new challenge willbe great!!!! The biggest hurdles for us are definitely time and loooooong ingredient lists! We are gluten free in addition to being veggies and it can be very time consuming! With two little ones, I don’t need that! I’m so excited for your quick and dirty recipes!!!

Angela, I swear you read my mind. I’d been making your cheeze sauce all winter, and I COULDN’T GET ENOUGH. Now though, I’m living in a teeeeeny tiny treehouse (yes, a treehouse!) for the summer, and I couldn’t bring my food processor with me. I’m going to make this this afternoon on my hot plate and relive the good times!

My biggest cooking hurdle is dinner time. It’s strange because it’s not like it should be difficult– I work from home, so I should have time, right? But every night, I have a great plan to make a great dinner and then time slips away and I make something less great.
So I guess, my question is, what are you best quick and easy recipe ideas?

Long ingredient lists cause me to automatically skip over a recipe. I just don’t have the patience for a million ingredients! But worse are the ones that take entirely too long. I don’t mind if they take place over two days or need a bit of tending to. But if I have to wait a long time when I’m hungry, that’s not cool (probably why I almost never roast veggies, I’m entirely too impatient!) But worse is when it takes a long active time. I like making new things, but I am not a fan of “slaving” in the kitchen.

One of my biggest hurdles is lengthy steps. I don’t mind a long recipe, but when one of the steps is to roast something and then I have to wait for it to cool, I really have to be feeling ambitious. I also seek out recipes that I already have everything for and don’t have to go to the store.

My biggest hurdle is that I’m allergic to tree nuts – I have difficulty finding substitutions for some dishes (i use a lot of sunflower and pumpkin seeds) in order to find a crunchy/nutty taste. It is much easier to cook at home though than to go out to restaurants. Even if I find a good Vegetarian/Vegan friendly restaurant the chances of the dishes not containing a lot of different nuts are slim to none. I realize nuts are a good source of protein and healthy fats but I don’t think I’m missing out all that much.

I would have to say long ingredient list AND kitchen tools, so often when I’m making raw dishes it requires some sort of gadget (SEE: Spiral Slicer and Dehydrator), also many recipes I have tried have 15 ingredients and just as many steps.

That sauce looks fantastic – brilliant idea to top pizza with it! I fully intend to try that out later this week. Mmmm.
I would LOVE to see an easy cheese-free casserole (that isn’t solely focused around pasta either)!
This challenge is a fantastic idea! You should encourage other bloggers to join in at some point, and then maybe showcase a bunch of the diverse ideas like you do in Vegan Recipes Link Love? Just a thought! :)

This post could not have come at a better time! I am in the middle of making my grocery shopping list and literally was thinking “I’m going to look at the OSG cheez sauce recipe and see if I can make it without a food processor”. Now I am so excited to make this recipe tonight! Thanks so much for your ever evoloving (or maybe in this case reverse evolving ha) and inspring recipes. :)

I think long ingredient lists are the one thing that will keep me from trying something. I don’t have a printer or a smart phone, so if I want to make something with a long ingredient list I have to copy it all down by hand. Usually, I’ll just search for a version of the same recipe with fewer ingredients to save myself time.

My biggest challenge is the ingredients. We do not have a good health food store nearby. I order some things through a co op I am a part of…but it is mostly bulk. If I knew I liked and would re use some of the ingredients, I would be willing to purchase them that way, but don’t really need 10 pounds of buckwheat groats until I’m sure we would use them. I wish so much we had a Whole Foods or a Fresh Market somewhere close!

Do you used the nutritional yeast with B12 or without? I’m not even sure if there’s a difference in taste, but I was just curious. This looks wonderful and I can’t wait to try it (those Amy macaroni & cheeses (okay, cheeze…) get expensive!

“This is the Lexus of all the cheeze sauces I’ve made to date. It’s extremely smooth, buttery, and comforting!”–

Sounds perfect! I always love a good vegan cheeze sauce. And a good luxury automobile too :)

Recipes using less than 5 or 7 ingredients and vegan? That would be 95% of all the recipes on my blog. Well, some are vegetarian not vegan, but the ingredient list thing is a big deal for me b/c I am instantly turned off by recipes that have long lists.

Or have hard to source items.

Or use that do things like use ” a pinch of saffron” ..I mean I’m sure it’s lovely but I don’t want to buy a $20 jar of saffron to use one strand, one time, and then have $19 of it laying around.

My goal, and I wrote this in the guest post I did for you, is to cook for my family (and show readers) that you dont have to have complicated, long, labor-intensive recipes in order to make awesome tasting food.

My biggest hurdle is having the ingredients handy in the pantry. Right now the pantry is over flowing with all the kids mac n cheese and star pasta, it has been a slow process to turn them over to eating what I eat. I just ordered Peas and Thankyou and hope this helps. I am also looking forward to when you put out your own cookbook. :)

I made this sauce about 5 minutes after I read the recipe. It’s the easiest, tastiest sauce and the closest thing to real cheese I’ve tasted since I stopped dairy. I am over the moon. Thank you so much!

I am so glad you posted this because I JUST bought a bag of nutritional yeast yesterday with the intention of making some kind of ‘cheezy’ pasta tonight! I was nervous I was going to spend too much time sifting through recipes to find a tried and true easy one but this will do the trick I am sure! Your 15 minute avocado ‘cream’ sauce was a big hit at my place! :-D

As usual, these pictures are gorgeous. I’ve been trying to eat less pasta recently (because I’m pretty sedentary at work), but I have to try this. Maybe this Sunday for dinner if work cooperates :) I’m sure it will become a mainstay Sunday night dinner this fall. Just think of all the mix ins!

Oh I really want to eat some Mac n Cheez now. I do find it annoying when ingredient lists are too extensive, especially for cooking meals during the week. I also find it frustrating when I need to buy a random ingredient which I know I will not use again for ages and probably have to throw out. It feels such a waste!

Hard to find ingredients is my biggest problem, especially since I live in South Asia! I just ordered a tub of n yeast online so hopefully I’ll be able to try this soon. Can’t wait to see tomorrow’s pizza recipe!

I’m excited that you’re doing this challenge! Right now, I live in a tiny apartment with few kitchen tools and a tiny food processor–simple techniques, minimal gadgets, and few ingredients sound wonderful.

The less ingredients usually means it’s going to be less expensive too! Now… If my cat hadnt found and ripped open my bag of nutritional yeast I’d be making this tonight. It’ll have to wait for the weekend :).

You know one of my biggest hurdles with cooking? Cleaning up afterwards! I swear I can’t see an inch of my bench top after cooking some meals, so I like recipes that are one-bowl-wonders and the like :)
The sauce looks great by the way, I’ve made your other cheese sauce and thought that was great – now I’m pretty tempted to see how this compares!

I just saw you in GLOW magazine!!! I was sooo excited….I saw your picture and said to mayself, “hey I know her”….. I read your blog everyday I feel like I know you!!! Most of my recipes come from your blog! Thanks for making my life as a vegan so much easier and more exciting!! YAY!

I have two big challenges: One is that I currently live in an old apartment where the oven is, in a word, jankity. Since I love baking, the oven and I have had a lot of fights. The second is that I have trouble being as creative in my cooking as I am in my baking. Baking is such a fun science experiment for me! Cooking on the other hand is something that I have trouble deviating from tried and true recipes.

One thing that I am horrible at making is crepes! I’ve basically failed every time I’ve tried – but rest assured that never stops me! I would love to see a crepes recipe with the “Glow” twist that makes cooking delicious and enjoyable!

Tonight I discovered the absolutely best substitute for whipped cream – HANDS DOWN! I took a can of coconut milk and put it in the fridge for a while, then scooped the thick white cream that separates from the watery part into a dish, whipped it with an electric whisk! Fantastic consistency. My husband isn’t a fan of coconut flavour, even though it is VERY subtle, so I melted some dark chocolate and stirred it in to the whipped coconut cream. A huge dollop on top of rasberries and I was in heaven. I think it’s actually better than real whipped cream :)

Mine is hard-to-find ingredients. I LOVE to cook. I also read a lot of food blogs, most of which are NA based. Alas, a lot of the products you have there, particularly on the health/natural/vegan/gluten-free etc side of things don’t exist here. Either we don’t import them, don’t produce them here, or have yet to realise there’s a market for them. Australia’s still a bit old-school-English in it’s meat and potatoes diet and things like whole wheat options in cafe’s etc. are never going to happen.

I just made this for dinner tonight – loved it! I’m not vegan, but I avoid dairy and have been looking for a solid cheeze recipe for mac n cheese. The texture was great! I served it over shells and some chunks of tofu with sauteed veggies on the side. I would definitely consider adding some spices (mustard powder or chili powder come to mind) to mix it up, but this will be entering our regular menu rotation.

Made this for dinner and I loooved it. I didn’t have Earth Balance so I used 4 TB of Canola Oil and it tasted amazing. So creamy and delicious. A little nutty, I think I didn’t cook the flour enough or overcooked it, but whatever…it was amazing. Thank you, Angela! I have tried SO many mac and cheese recipes, all good, but this sauce is so realistic in texture and taste…and only FIVE ingredients. insane. I can see myself using this plain but also having fun adding other things like rotel to it.

I would say my current recipe hurdle is recipes that required either a blender or food processor, because I currently have neither, and being a student again means they just aren’t in the budget. I refuse to buy a cheap kitchen appliance that I will just have to replace again in a year or two, so instead I suffer not being able to even make smoothies anymore! Le sigh.

My hurdle is the ingredients I’m not a vegan I just love helthy food. I do believe I may have a gluten issue but I have not confirm this I just try to eat healthy and I know this are awesome recepies. Which I can make all of them but there so many ingredients I have never heard of and,or I defanaly I do not have them in my cover. I which I can just get a few items and make diferent recepies and then just add one or two more items and so on.

I just tried your quick alfreo and am in love. That is one dish I really miss but I actually liked your version better than the actual cheese alfredo! I am not sure if this counts as a quick and dirty recipe but I tried it for the first time the other day and am adding it to my favorites. Peaches and cream chia pudding, peaches are abundant right now so I wanted to take advantage of them! 3 Tbsp of chia seeds, 3/4 to 1 cup of almond milk and two drops of liquid stevia (optional). Let the chia seeds absorb the milk then I diced up half a peach and added it in. So delicious!

I love this recipe and I will make it tomorrow.
Just one question, why do you not prepare this sauce like a regular roux?
I am sometimes put off by veggie burger recipes. Although I make them quite often myself, I never follow a recipe, as the mostly long ingredient lists just make me want to add to the dough whatever I have on hand!

I just made this and I AM DYING! this is better than even IKEA mac and cheese!
I used:
-arrowroot for the flour
-powdered soy milk and water for the milk (i think gave even more creamy consistency)
-olive oil for the earth balance
-and smothered some gluten free pasta with it!
Turned out incredibly and so easy! I’ll definitely be making this again soon!

Your 5 ingredient sauce was amazing! I made it for Mac and Cheese today and my 3 year old had two bowls!!! LOVED IT! Thank you for not only sharing amazing recipes, but also easy and super yummy recipes!!

I am so glad you posted this quick and easy cheeze sauce recipe. I have been looking for easy recipes to make when I am busy with full-time work and school this fall, and this has just been added to the list :-)

My biggest cooking/baking hurdle is kind of tied between not knowing how. I can read a recipe but sometimes I can’t follow it because I’ve never really learned to cook so I don’t know what a lot of the words mean (and if I ask my sister what more than four or so means she takes over and does it for me).
That’s tied with hard to find ingredients. Except my hard to find ingredients are not so hard to find for a lot of people. I live in a small town that is really tough on vegetarians, let alone vegans. We have small health food store that sells some of the stuff (but only in really small amounts, like they seriously only seem to get Vegannaise in three jars a time) and the international aisle at the local Walmart that has stuff like miso but other than that you’re mostly out of luck. Actually there is a Trader Joes in another town near here. Near, that is, if you define near as two and half hours by highway away.

I finally made this sauce, and paired it with macaroni noodles (garnished with fresh ground pepper, paprika, and the last of my summer tomatoes on top) !! It was so delicious. Vegan mac and cheese is my favorite comfort food, and having this easy go-to sauce means I will be eating it all the time now! Thank you so much!

I made this sauce for the first time last night and used it with penne rice noodles, steamed collards, sauteed onion and smoked tempeh all put into a bowl with the cheeze sauce on top. FANTASTIC!! The BF loved it. I’ll be making it A LOT in the future!

I am gonna make this in a few weeks. I have not made any sauce with cashews and was dread the idea of doing it. I want something easy and this sounds perfect. I am new to vegan so I am looking stuff up like crazy. If the didn’t have vegan dairy stuff i am not sure what i would have done.

Can I make this in the mirowave or do I have to do it in a pot on the stove? I bought all the stuff today and am gona make it either way I was just wondering and I am excited thats its simple and no food processer and I plan on putting it on spagetti squash. Please get back to me soon. I will then follow up with what I think after I eat it.

This sauce is delicious. My biggest cooking hurdle is not being able to find special ingredients. I live in South Africa in a smallish town. So some ingredients I can’t find at all and some I can only find in speciality shops in bigger towns. But there are more and more things available and more shops selling health food online.

Love the idea of the cheese sauce. I’m making the transition to vegan, not because of a philosophy, but because I’m a cancer survivor and want to eat a wholefood plant-based diet. Giving up meat and most dairy for wonderful vegetables, fruit, grains, etc….no problem, but cheese is really a hard one. I lived in the UK for 15 years and used to eat the full fat French cheese, some so strong, they would make your eyes water…ha, ha. So using things like this cheese sauce in dishes; also the vegan Parm cheese recipes look interesting, combining nutritional yeast with nuts in the food processor. I used to use a lot of Parm cheese. Any dieas?

This recipe is awesome, simple and cheap! The kitchen smells delicious when I make it. It is now a regular staple here: we use it on these nuggets (joythebaker.com/2012/10/broccoli-potato-nuggets/) and on pasta. I’ll have to try it on pizza too.

Oh my goodness, this cheezy sauce is A-MAZ-ING! I modified the recipe some based on my likings and subbed extra virgin coconut oil for the Earth Balance. I added in some more garlic powder (I like garlic!), mild chili powder, a few dashes of low sodium soy sauce and a few sprinkles of smoked paprika. I made a double batch for a bake with green peas, salad savoy and brussels sprouts and it was yummy. Thanks for the great recipes all things vegan and all things cheezy!

So I just learned that I’m allergic to milk, eggs, wheat, and yeast. My absolute favorite meal has always been macaroni and cheese but with my newly found allergies, I cannot have this. I was so excited when I found that you could make an “uncheesy cheese” sauce but it seems that every recipe has yeast in it. Can you come up with a cheesy recipe with no cheese and no yeast? I would be forever grateful to get a version of my favorite meal!

I am just getting back into a healthy lifestyle after having my little one (1 1/2 yrs ago). I was looking for a “mac n cheese” alternative. I didn’t expect to have a cheesy taste but at least that thick, warm dish that my LO may be enticed to eat (over the awful mac n cheese sold in stores)

…perhaps I bought bad nutritional yeast as this just wasn’t palatable & smelled bad. Is there a different with flakes ( It’s all they offered at our little, local health food store)?

So a bechamel sauce done backwards making it needlessly complicated? It’s easier to incorporate flour to soy/almond milk when flour mixture is hot.

So let butter melt in pot. Add flour and whisk it into the butter letting it bubble for a minute. Then pour in the milk, whisking and letting it thicken. And then add the rest of the ingredients (the flavorings for the bechamel).

I made this sauce today, and found it was FABULOUS. I do eat cheese, but lately have fallen in love with nutritional yeast. I decided to experiment more with nutritional yeast recipes and came across this one. The texture was great, and the flavor was perfect. I added some paprika, which was about all it needed. Thanks for putting the recipe up!

Hi. This comment is also about nutritional yeast. In my case, I not only don’t use it, I don’t even *try* to find it. This is because I am allergic to ALL yeasts, including nutritional yeast. I search a wide variet of online source including books offline and advice from friends via email and so on; and as a result, I cannot credit this to the proper source. But my search produced a wonderful substitute for nutritional yeast that I make right here at home in my own little kitchen: dehydrated carrot flakes. I slice up a whole bunch of carrots trying to keep the slices an uniform thickness (hit and miss at best!), dehydrate them, and when they are *completely* dry, I grind them into powder or flakes (both are fine with me) in my trusty Magic Bullet, bottle, and store them in the spice cupboard with the rest of my seasonings. So far I’ve used them in making an almond cheddar cheese recipe and am VERY satisfied with the results. It tastes great! Give it a try, and I hope you will have as much success with it as I have. :)

I love this and I am not really a fan of nutritional yeast, at all. Even my very happy meat eating boyfriend said he would eat the Mac and cheese I made useing this sauce. (Just some noodles and broccoli) in my book THAT’S a keeper. He hates my vegan food normally.

OMG OSG you are a genius. We began a one week vegan challenge 3 weeks ago and it has morphed into a one month vegan challenge. The challenge, it turns out, was not with the adults in the hose- we are convinced- but with the two teenagers in the home who claim veganism is boring. Boring!? I think this mackencheeze will be a winner for lunch today. Thanks!

I am not a vegan, but my niece is. I am trying to be supportive and I have been practicing on some recipes for thanksgiving. I actually like this sauce. I put a little extra onion in it (my preference.) I can see using it on multiple thing and as a dip. I can’t wait to surprise her on Thanksgiving.

DELICIOUS! I bought nutritional yeast on a whim, and while trying to figure out where to use it, found your sauce. It’s perfect. I’m not even Vegan and I love cheese. But I will absolutely use this sauce.

I really like colour, so to boost the yellow in the sauce I added a 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder. It ramps up the yellow and when I used the sauce in a Mac & “Cheeze” recipe I served next to a mixed greens, beet, and cashew salad. It was so bright and colourful–delicious and attractive.

Many thanks. The Quick and Dirty Vegan Cheeze Sauce is exactly what I’ve been looking for. I didn’t have any dijon so it was left out and still fabulous. I am newly dairy free and was so missing “the sauce”. You nailed it.

Is there anything I could sub in instead of earth balance? They were just bought out by a huge corporation, And they’ve really lowered the quality… I’m thinking coconut oil or do you think the flavor would be too overpowering?

You might be able to use oil (maybe olive oil), but I haven’t tried it. I wouldn’t use virgin coconut oil because of the flavour (unless you used refined coconut oil which doesn’t have a coconut flavour). Hope this helps! let me know how it goes.

Thank you so much for this! I just tried it out right now and it tastes wonderful. :)

My biggest hurdle is two-fold: 1. I’m just starting to branch into cooking things that aren’t the very basics (i.e. boil pasta + add jarred sauce = dinner). 2. I’m a new vegan! That one is especially hard, since I’m still keenly aware of my nostalgia for the taste and texture of creamy/cheesy things. Most vegan alternatives I’ve found so far are unsatisfying at best, or taste bad.

This sauce was a pleasant surprise. Will be coming back to it lots in the future!

Hi I’m a new vegan also wasn’t sure if people’s comments here were people who are used to eating nutritional yeast did you find it strong tasting? This will be my first time eating it also I’ve noticed I seem to have more energy being vegan it’s been almost a month and I am really feeling good.would like to know if you experienced this also and how long it took you to notice
Thanks jackie

Love it! I know where I can buy cheap, tasty vegan creamy cheeses, but because I am allergic to corn I can’t have most of them. This recipe is great because it is so easy to make, tastes awesome and isn’t plotting to kill me.

For a slightly different taste, try adding cumin and/or nutmeg. Just a small amount. I think other spices might go well too, with experimenting.

Just tried this cheeze sauce and it is LOVELY!!! I don’t like the greasy feeling of Daiya, so this is a wonderful solution. When I added cooked mushrooms and macaroni to the sauce, it tasted almost exactly like a pre-vegan comfort food I enjoyed…now I have my mac n’ cheeze back! Thank you!

So I have tried the nutritional yeast cheese sauce and man ‘n cheese from other websites and have been very disappointed. I am new to nutritional yeast and it is definitely a strong flavor. But I am lactose intolerant and motivated to make this work. So today for lunch I decided I wanted mac ‘n cheese and set out to find one. Last time I made it I decided there is no way there could be a good mac ‘n cheese recipe without some sort of milk (almond) and butter (non-dairy). So I found your recipe on pinterest and was so pleased with the results. This is going to be my go-to mac ‘n cheese from now on, thank you soo much. Oh and a note for anyone else new to nutritional yeast, I decided to use a little less than recommended until I get used to the flavor ;-)

Made this tonight, it was delicious! Hands down the best “cheese” sauce I’ve tried. For those looking for GF, I used tapioca starch/flour and it came out great (though I barely had to cook it past the point of putting it in, as it thickens quickly.) Thank you!

Wow is this sauce awesome!! We used it to make vegan nachos and even my picky and recently veg husband agreed it is the best!! Can’t wait to try it on broccoli and over noodles for a quick Mac n cheez. The best part is it is made with pantry staples. Thank you so much and congratulations and best wishes to you!!!

I made this last night, but doubled the milk, flour, onion and garlic powders and butter, used only 4tbsp national yeast and barely a smidgen of mustard, mixed it into cooked rigatoni pasta, topped with crunchy breadcrumbs and baked. It was INDISTINGUISHABLE from real mac n cheese. Absolutely amazing, I had 3rds. This will be a staple in my house!

Hi Angela,
Id like to make a broccoli and cauliflower casserole for thanksgiving this weekend. Do you think this sauce would work baked? Also, I dont use veggie butters and avoid oils. Can I omit it? Thanks!
k

This is a lovely sauce. In my hurry to get the ingredients, I accidentally picked up sweetened Almond milk. Saved it with some Aminos which I’ll probably add again next time, but perhaps with the unsweetened. Lovely taste. Thanks for the recipe. So quick an easy. Great stuff.

Try this for quick sweet tooth. Moisten a packet of instant natural flavored oatmeal with 2 tbl spoons of water and mix in vegan chocolate chips. Spray pan with a coconut oil and brown on each side. Top with Agave. Ive had 2 today. Good alternative for Breakfast too. How do I follow youbon Facebook?

So excited to try this!
The only hurdle I find extremely challenging is living in such a small farm town. Not many people that live here keep an open mind to different diets, and things like Earth Balance just don’t sell in a regular grocery store. Sometimes finding ingredients that are vegan friendly is impossible!

This literally took me less than 10 mins to prepare and cook. And it tasted AMAZING! I think the addition of Dijon mustard is genius – I wouldn’t have thought of it, but I it took this to the next level!! AMAZING!! Best vegan cheese sauce I’ve ever tasted – hands down. Thanks so much Angela – you’re incredible!!

Thank you! I have recently been cutting out dairy and have been looking for a non dairy Mac n cheese option. Being an university student, the cost of all the different ingredients and time most vegan recipes require is quite daunting. This recipe was perfect! The mac n cheeze recipe was great, especially after adding some sautéed tomatoes! Yum!

Hi Angela, I have made this recipe the last 3 nights in a row – served on baked potato, then pasta, then fries :-) It is so delicious. I can’t thank you enough for providing what has been the first vegan cheese sauce I have found that really does taste like cheese! I’ve only been vegan since January 2015 and I was getting kinda desperate!

This. Is. Amazing. The ‘stretchy’ quality is fascinating; I didn’t think it possible in vegan cooking. That your recipe falls well within your seven ingredient challenge by only containing five, I, very respectfully, recommend one more for its substantial impact-the tiniest pinch of nutmeg. It screams ‘creamy’, seeming to take your cheeze sauce a touch deeper into dairy dreams of past. Lmk if you feel the same!

LOVED this recipe! No strange ingredients, I had everything on hand it came together super quickly and worked well with a gluten free flour mix. It was also a hit with my spouse and toddler! Will definitely make again and again!

My daughter just found out she has many food allergies, and it’s been rough. She’s missing cheese! She can’t do almonds, rice or soy either. Have you tried this with a different kind of milk, like coconut or flax?

Hello!
I’m just trying you quick cheeze sauce for the first time and I thought I’d just let you know about my cheat!
I popped all the ingredients in my bullet, whizzed them up and then heated the sauce in a pan. It seems to have turned out well and ready to be poured over my greens when they are steamed.
I’ve been a veggie for over 30yrs and now I seem to be edging gradually towards a vegan diet, so this sauce will be a boon!
Your recipes are just fab.
Thank you.
Hilly (England)

I just made this sauce with some whole wheat macaroni noodles and it is soooo good! It was the first time I’d tried to make a vegan cheese-like sauce, and I’m really impressed. The only thing I did differently was that I used real butter (I didn’t have any vegan butter), and I added a little turmeric. Absolutely perfect flavor and so super-easy! Thank you so much for the recipe!

Bake some potatoes. Scoop out the flesh and put it in a bowl. Make your five ingredient cheese sauce (I’m also going to try it with your cashew cheese recipe another time too). Chop onions and add them to the bowl with most of the cheese sauce. Stuff potato jackets. Bake again. Sprinkle with remaining sauce, smoked paprika, and some green onions

I literally just made this for my hubby’s lunch, and it was so quick and easy to make, The ingredients were really simple I had them all in hand, and the consistency of the sauce was so perfect. It sure isn’t Mac and Cheese, but like you said, it’s just as good and comforting! Thank you for your recipe!

WOW! I just made this and have to confess – I ate it all in one sitting! haha! I followed the directions/ingredients to a “T”, and then when the mixture was nice and thick, I added a few extra splashes of lemon juice and Frank’s Hot Sauce for an extra little kick. It was really fabulous! Thank you SO much for this recipe! It’s super-fast, super-easy, and super-yummo!
PS – your cookbook is awesome!

This sauce was so so easy to make and really delish! it took a couple minutes to pull it together– while i waited for my water to boil and pasta to cook! Loaded up my bowl with a pile of fresh baby spinach, topped with hot pasta, and smothered with some of this sauce!! Hit the spot, and my cheezy comfort food craving!! I’ll definitely be making this again! Thank you!

This is totally yummy! the family all liked it! I didn’t have enough nutritional yeast, so I added some basil, oregano, a tiny bit of parsley and extra garlic and onion powder to make it more flavorful. thanks for this recipe!

I made this tonight and have to say it was not good at all. I’m trying to please a five year old that can’t have dairy. I used KAL brand nutritional yeast based on research about it being the best tasting. I don’t know if this sauce is supposed to taste like cheddar or not. It was creamy but I didn’t taste any cheese resemblance, my 5yr old took one bite and spit it out. I was so hoping this would save the mac & cheese delema! Have any suggestions?

Thank you so very much for this. I avoid nuts, and many other vegan cheese mixes use nut milks. I’ve tried rice milk and it was just too sweet. I made this recipe last night and have already finished off the batch, using it as a tortilla chip dip.

FYI – recipe can be made gluten free (apologies if someone else addressed this, there are lots of comments): I replaced the flour with potato flour. Just add half of what you would use if you were using wheat flour. I’m guessing you can use any alternative flour, but I thought potato would make it more savory. I haven’t made it a second time, though, so I have no comparison. Thanks again!

just tried this…. it’s pretty damn amazing. I love how simple it is to make, as I absolutely despise spending so long just trying to make any vegan cheese sauce. I also added about a teaspoon and a half of lemon juice! I would definitely try adding it, it adds so much to the recipe

New to Veganism. New to having to cook for self. This was a great recipe! Loved the consistency, color, the taste was not at all offensive actually quite good. I was not expecting a cheese taste but yet a yummy pasta dish so I was not at all disappointed, but pleasantly enthused. To be honest I had tried Nutritional Yeast in the past and was not a fan. I was hesitant about that as the main ingredient in the cheese sauce.

It was amazing all together. Will be making it again. It was especially nice because it is something soft enough to eat after wisdom teeth removal and filling enough to feel satiated.

I just got done making this. I had to customize it a little bit since I didn’t have all of the ingredients. I Used coconut oil instead of earth balance, Almond flour, and I didn’t put in the Dijon mustard. It was absolutely amazing! I kind of wanted to eat this as a soup it was so good!

Are you sure this only makes 2/3 cup? Glancing at the ingredient quantities I would assume it made at least a cup… does the flour thickening things up reduce the volume? I’m putting this into my recipe software for scaling purposes and wanted to double-check about the quantity. Thanks!

Hi! I’ve tried this recipe before and loved it! Best vegan cheese sauce I’ve made so far. I used bakers’ yeast because I didn’t realise nutritional yeast was different and better… Oops. It’s also not so widely available where I live.

Anyway, now I have my nutritional yeast and I would like to multiply this recipe by 4, but 24 tablespoons of nutritional yeast sounds like a lot! Is there a ratio one should keep in mind when multiplying recipes using nutritional yeast?

Hey Bron, Glad you still loved it despite the mix up! haha. Rather than adding 24 tablespoons, I think you’d probably be better off to simply add it to taste…start with a half cup and add slowly from there (as nutritional yeast can be quite strong!). Good luck :)

Oh my gooooodnesss! Just made this recipe substituting the garlic & onion powder for fresh garlic & onion, then caramelise it in the pan. Ohh I’m never that enthusiastic about a recipe but you just made me want to eat mac and cheese which I’ve never had before haha just this cheese sauce is SO good! I’m using it now over some steamed brocolli & cauliflower. Never really made a dairy cheese sauce but I’ll sure be making this one regularly. Thanks for this awesome recipe!

Ty for creating this without oil…I am going to try it tomorrow. I also don’t care for long ingredient lists as it becomes too time consuming. I have 2 granddaughters to play with….soon in a couple of years to teach to cook. You are a life saver

Thanks. Before turning vegan my middle daughter and I enjoyed always our pizzas together. Maybe with this foundation I can come up with an accommodating cheesy flavored sauce to lightly line across the top. I’m thinking of trying several ideas using readily available ingredients to see what I can come up with. A couple thoughts I have is similac powder for the creamy milkiness, a dash of lemon or vinegar for sharpness and possibly corn starch as a thickening agent. GFS also carries an imitation buttery-cheesy “popcorn flavoring” in their spice section I want to experiment with. It’s a 100% dairy free, highly concentrated flavoring that actually smells a whole lot like the little cheese packets in a box of mac n cheese.

Oh thank goodness I found this again! My husband and I made it in 2016 for part of our first Valentine’s Day fondue dinner. It’s been a tradition since then to have fondue on that day! He printed It off and we couldn’t find it, and no bookmarks to be found, either. We didn’t have cheese sauce last year for this reason (only chocolate)! My Google-Fu was failing me and I only found one super complex recipe after another (mix this, blend that, soak overnight), blah blah! No way, those were not the recipes I remembered. I made it directly in the fondue pot. So easy! I wonder if the post was updated, would Google find it easier? Maybe mention this is so easy to make as fondue? Thank you so very much for this wonderful, delicious, easy recipe! I admire you as a food blogger and can only one day hope to become half as amazing!

Hey Christine, Aww that’s so awesome you both still make this recipe after all these years! So sweet. I love your idea for giving this recipe an update too…it’s long overdue, haha. I’d love to know how you think this one compares with my all-purpose cheese sauce: http://ohsheglows.com/2017/11/08/all-purpose-vegan-cheese-sauce/

(I know you said you weren’t interested in soaking and blending but if you ever try it out let me know!) =)